Disclaimer: I don't own the Marauders, but I sure wouldn't mind if I did. ;P They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do, however, own Leah Matthews and the other OCs. Don't steal, please!
Girl of His Dreams
Chapter Four: Meeting the Slytherins
It had been three days since Leah had arrived at Hogwarts, and she had only just been given her classes. McGonagall handed them to her with a quick, reassuring pat on the shoulder, and Leah skimmed over the supply list for the third time, checking off all the texts and supplies mentally.
"I'm sure I ordered everything," she told herself, shoving her Transfiguration book into her messenger bag. She took a deep breath and left the common room, looking down both directions of the hallway. With a slump of her shoulders, she groaned. "I don't know where the Transfiguration room is..."
"I'll show you," a familiar voice said, laughing. Leah turned to see Lily approaching.
"Lily! Thanks, you're a life saver!" Leah followed her immediately. "Are you going there, too?"
"No, I'm off to Ancient Runes," she replied, "but my teacher won't mind if I'm late, since I'm showing you around." On the way, Lily went over Leah's schedule. "Hmm... Charms, Transfiguration, Potions... History of Magic... Defense Against the Dark Arts," she cheered. "We only have one class together, looks like."
"Damn," Leah muttered under her breath. "Do you know about Sirius or Remus, or even James?"
"I have better things to do than check their schedules," she sniffed, handing Leah her schedule back. "But they're all in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
"That should be fun," Leah said happily, but Lily just rolled her eyes.
"Yes, watching the Marauders hexing random people is so fun. Oh, here we are!" Lily waved and headed back the way they had come. "Have fun!"
"Thanks..." Leah swallowed anxiously, but pushed open the heavy wooden doors. Luckily, class hadn't started yet, so Leah wasn't going to be docked for being tardy. She looked around for a seat, but they all seemed to be full. Oh, there's one! The boy she would be sharing the table with had long black hair, done up in a messy ponytail that looked good on him. He was talking to two of his friends, a boy with messy black hair and glasses, and another with dirty blonde hair.
Sirius, James, and Remus! Thank Goodness. She cleared her throat softly to get their attention.
"Excuse me, may I sit here?"
"Sure!" Sirius smiled as she sat down. "Finally got your schedule, eh?"
"Yep." She took it out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Lily said we all have Defense Against the Dark Arts together."
"That's an affirmative," James agreed, leaning back on his chair's hind legs to look over the schedule with Sirius. Remus smiled at her as she pulled out her textbook, quill, and parchment.
"I see you have one of those quills that never run out of ink," he piped up. Leah nodded.
"Back home, we used normal pens. This quill business is just plain weird."
"We have Charms and Transfiguration together, too," Sirius piped up excitedly. "Moony and Prongs are in those classes with us."
"Who?"
"Oh, Remus is Moony and James is Prongs," he explained, handing her schedule back.
"Those are some strange nicknames," Leah said.
"Have you ordered your supplies?" Remus asked, swiftly changing the subject. Leah nodded.
"I think so... It should be here any day now."
"You can borrow my stuff if you're missing something," Sirius assured her. "I don't use half of it."
"I'm sure you don't use the other half, either," Leah said, rolling her eyes. Remus smiled and said,
"You couldn't be more right."
"Okay," Sirius huffed. "That's fine. Let's all gang up on the handsome popular guy."
"I'm going to look forward to Potions," Leah said suddenly. "That was always one of my strong points."
"Lucky..." Remus hung his head. "I have to take remedial lessons from Slughorn this year."
"Oh great," Sirius groaned loudly, as the Slytherins filed into the room. "An unpleasant visit from my dear cousin Bellatrix."
Leah and Remus looked up to see a group of students dressed in black and green clothing, all trying to look as important as they could muster. A young woman in the front spoke first. She had dark eyes and greasy-looking, black hair that reached her shoulders. She folded her arms across her chest with a superior look on her face.
"Look," her haughty, high-pitched voice leered. "It's my cousin, the blood traitor, and the Gryffindor trash he calls 'friends.'"
"Look, guys, it's my overrated cousin Bella and her greasy-haired, Slytherin posse," Sirius shot back. James laughed loudly.
"Get lost, Bella."
"I just stopped by to greet the new wolf-lover," Bella sneered. Leah's eyes widened in shock, and the black-haired girl laughed. "I heard all about you, Matthews. You didn't transfer, you were expelled for running around with a werewolf."
"That's none of your business," Leah said angrily. "Go bug someone who can actually stand the sound of your voice. If you can find someone, that is."
"Quite the mouth on you, isn't there, wolf-lover? I suppose I can't be surprised, you are hanging out with my miserable cousin and his friends." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and the group of Slytherins behind her all laughed at them.
"If you were my cousin, I'd be miserable, too," Leah snapped. Sirius snorted as he tried to stifle his laughter.
"You little wretch! You think you can talk to me like that?"
"Class has started," McGonagall called loudly, her impeccable timing interrupting their fight. She swept into the room briskly, her gaze landing on the gang of Slytherins who had yet to sit down and take out their texts. "Miss Lestrange, Mr. Malfoy. All of you, take your seats."
"Remember, Bella, that if I can handle werewolves, the likes of you won't be a problem at all," Leah growled out, just low enough for them to hear her. Bellatrix turned and gave her a hideous snarl.
"Try it," she hissed, taking her seat. McGonagall started into her lecture immediately, and Leah clenched her wand in her fist so tightly her knuckles were white.
"Don't let her get to you," Sirius murmured quietly. "She's always sticking her overgrown nose where it doesn't belong."
Leah rested her chin in her hand, propping her elbow up on the table.
"Word spreads fast around here," she sighed, staring up at McGonagall's demonstration blankly. "I don't know why I'm so surprised."
"Was what she said true?" He asked incredulously. "You were expelled for hanging out with a werewolf?"
"She's my best friend," Leah said defensively. "She's the kindest creature I've ever met. Always smiling, and trying to make others happy. I don't care what anyone says- she's not a monster."
"We understand perfectly," Sirius said, trying to calm her down. Leah turned her eyes onto Remus, who paled under her speculative gaze.
"Yes," she agreed, "I suppose you do."
They all looked at each other, and McGonagall cleared her throat. "Very well, since no one will volunteer, I'll call on someone. Miss Matthews, would you like to tell me why witches in the past were always connected, by muggles, with black cats?"
"Witches were often animagi, and transformed into black cats due to their agility, darkness, and normality among human villages," she said monotonously, taking her eyes off of Remus. The professor nodded briefly.
"Very good. 5 points to Gryffindor for actually paying attention," she said, staring pointedly at a group of Slytherin girls on the other side of the room. Leah scoffed.
"I was paying attention?"
"Apparently."
Leah frowned. "Well, that's no good." She ignored Sirius's gaze as she stuck her wand in her belt loop and began doodling dinosaurs on her spare parchment. Her first day of actual school didn't seem so exciting anymore. She just wanted to run back to her room and break anything she could get her hands on.
Damn that witch, Leah thought venomously. She doesn't know anything. How dare she talk about Heather like that? Her gaze softened as it flickered back over to Remus, who sat in front of her. At the moment, she could only see the back of his head, but she could imagine the shock he must have gone through when- what was her name? Bellatrix? What an ugly name!- brought up the fact that she'd been running around wolves. Thought you'd been found out, eh?
From what she'd read, werewolves weren't hunted in Britain- not like they were in America. Still, they were prejudiced against. The Headmaster of Hogwarts must have been either extremely trusting, or extremely stupid to let Remus Lupin live in a place full of people like this. What happened when he transformed? How can they have kept it a secret this long?
Still, she mused, moving her eyes back to her hastily sketched triceratops. He's been nothing but kind to me. Just like Heather. Why do the kindest people have to be plagued with such a cruel curse?
When class let out, everyone gathered their belongings and headed for the door. Remus moved slower than usual, and Leah bowed her head in apology.
"I'm sorry," she said to him quietly. "I won't tell anyone."
"I appreciate it," he replied, smiling as if nothing were wrong. "How did you find out?"
"Like I said," she told him, laughing. "My best friend was one of them. The signs aren't hard to see."
"I suppose not," he agreed, looking back to Sirius and James, who were waiting by the door. "I've read about what they do to lycans in America. You stuck by your friend despite all of that, and you paid a price for it. Any friends at all are hard to find for our kind... let alone loyal ones. She was lucky."
"It looks like you managed better than her," I told him jokingly. "All I did was baby her."
"Even so." They walked together to the door, where Sirius hummed in thought as soon as she passed him.
"Is that what you meant by 'your kind' earlier?" He asked.
"I've been expelled for being a 'werewolf supporter,'" she replied, using her fingers to make air-quotes. "I was caught by the Hunters twice before... With a record like that, no other school in America wanted me. Professor Dumbledore was the only one who would take me."
"Dumbledore is a great man," Remus told her. "I owe him a lot."
James gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "This is a great happy moment and all, but I'm off to Potions. See you at lunch!"
"Bye James. Have fun with Lily," Leah called. Remus agreed to walk Leah to History of Magic, and when he smiled, it looked shaky. The sight reminded her of Heather, and she reached out to feel his forehead. Remus was surprised, but laughed tiredly at her concern. "You weren't joking when you said you babied her, I guess! I'll be fine in a couple days," he assured her.
"Yes…" Leah sighed, her eyes narrowing with worry. "You should go to the Infirmary."
Sirius patted her head comfortingly. "Don't worry so much, you'll age faster."
"I'm walking Leah to Professor Binns' room," Remus told Sirius, noting the confusion on his face as he and Leah began walking the opposite direction. "You're welcome to join us."
"Oh, have fun," Sirius said, making a face. "Binns is boring as hell."
"You just don't like history," Leah said, hands on her hips. "I'll enjoy the class, I'm sure of it!" Sirius waved a hand in acknowledgment as he continued his path to Care of Magical Creatures.
"You keep telling yourself that," he called back.
Leah huffed and turned to Remus. "You like history, don't you?"
"Um...well, honestly..." Remus hung his head. "Not when Binns teaches it."
Leah felt another wave of dread wash over her.
A/N: (2100 words) Next chapter will be better, I promise, sorry for the crappy writing in this one. I changed quite a bit, in order to distance the characters. I had many reviews saying that Sirius was becoming too attached to Leah too quickly, and vice versa, and I agree. So, I fixed it! Let me know if this is any better, please! Thanks!